Without saying a word, Aria calmly reached into her satchel and pulled out the parchment bearing the mate rejection decree.
Beside it was a small ceremonial blade used during rejection rites.
To Caleb’s complete disbelief, she signed the parchment immediately with steady hands, then pricked her finger with the blade. A drop of her blood stained the document, sealing her consent to the severing of their bond.
She handed the parchment to Lupas.
The scribe accepted it slowly, his expression filled with pity.
“My Luna…” he began gently. “You still have time to reconsider. A bond blessed by the Moon Goddess is not easily broken. Both of you may still speak before this becomes permanent.”
Aria let out a faint, humorless laugh.
“Every bond has its limits, Lupas,” she said quietly.
“Once those limits are crossed… there is nothing left to repair.”
She turned her gaze toward Caleb.
Tears shimmered in his eyes.
“Our bond crossed that limit today.”
Just then, a voice called from the bedroom.
“Caleb… where are—”
A young woman stepped out of the room, wrapped only in a blanket.
The moment she noticed Lupas standing there—and Aria beside him—her eyes widened in shock. Embarrassment flooded her face before she hurriedly retreated back inside the room.
The scribe grimaced slightly in disgust.
Aria, however, did not react at all.
Her expression remained eerily calm.
“Once the rejection rite is complete, send me a copy of the council record,” she said quietly.
Lupas nodded.
Without waiting for a reply, Aria walked past Caleb and toward the door.
He remained rooted to the spot.
His heart screamed at him to chase after her.
To beg for forgiveness.
To stop her from leaving.
But his feet refused to move.
Because deep down, he already knew the truth.
He was the one who had destroyed everything.
After a long moment, Caleb slowly reached for the parchment with trembling hands.
His chest tightened painfully as he pricked his own finger and let his blood fall onto the document beside hers.
The rejection rite was complete.
The mate bond between them shattered.
Far away from the house, as Aria walked beneath the fading evening sky, she felt the invisible thread connecting their souls finally snap.
Her wolf let out a long, mournful howl inside her mind.
But Aria did not stop walking.
Because in that moment, she realized something with absolute clarity.